3.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Platform: DS Time Played: 17 hours Status: Beaten Phantom Hourglass was the game in the 2D Zelda series that I was least excited to play. All I have ever heard about this game is that it is the most mediocre game in the Zelda series, with ugly low-res 3D graphics with the touch screen being the only method of control. And while that was all true, I did still find myself enjoying the game to a certain degree. While it’s nowhere near as good as the Four Swords titles, the Oracle games, or Link’s Awakening, Phantom Hourglass is still “good,” just “good.” Sure, it takes some getting used to when it comes to the overall look of the game, it's incredibly low-res 3D but for what the game is going for, it works, and so do the controls, after a while you do indeed get used to used the stylus to control Link's movements and attacks, but they made sure to use the touch controls to the best of the abilities. I highly appreciate that they made the shoulder buttons into a shortcut for item use, and the d-pad being a shortcut for the menu options on the touch screen, just makes things a lot more efficient. I also really like being able to use the touchscreen to write and jot down notes onto the literal maps you use to traverse the world, along with puzzles and items in general that require you to draw symbols onto something or use the touch screen for pinpoint aiming. The touch screen was just utilized very well in my opinion. I also think that the dungeons in this game are fairly enjoyable, I think the layouts and puzzles provided for a nice, streamlined experience that ended up with me liking all of the dungeons in the game, EXCEPT the Temple of the Ocean King, which I know everyone dislikes for very obvious reasons. It is just not an enjoyable dungeon with its gimmick of having a set time limit with the Phantom Hourglass and its Sand of Hours, with all of the Phantoms trying to hunt you down, and just a bunch of unfun puzzles that end up causing more stress than enjoyment. The story and characters in this game are so non-important and also uninteresting that I didn't really care about what was going on in said story whatsoever. I constantly held out hope that Linebeck would become a decent companion, but nope, never really happened, he was always a self-centered prick to the end, sure he helped out during the climax but that's simply due to fight or flight instinct. Overall, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was a pretty decent time, I enjoyed all of the unique puzzles that were only capable via this game being on the DS, and I enjoyed the unique controls and dungeon layouts that were once again only capable because of the platform that the game was made for. Hopefully Spirit Tracks can also provide the same or if not a better presentation using this similar style of 2D Zelda. Check this out if you feel like it!